Snow melter and plow



F. A. CONNOLLY SNOW MELTER AND PLOW Filed July 12, 1924 mmvron Frank? J? Carl/lolly Patented Feb. 17, 1925.

unu'rso STATES m1: A. cannons, or romr'ron taxes, new 3mm,

snow mam him How.

Application filed m 12, 1924. Serial No. 725,591.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK A. CoNNoLLr, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Pompton Lakes, in the county of Passaic and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Snow Melter and Plow, of'which the following is a full, clear, and exact description. v

My invention relates to snow plows a t pc in which a fire box is associated with t plow in such a way as to heat the plow head and melt most if not all-of the snow it encounters while the unmelted snow, if there be any is pushed to one side.

Another object of m invention is to rovide' a construction w ich may be use in connection with a propelling vehicle for removing snow from streets or roads and which construction can also be made in a smaller size to be propelled by hand for clearing sidewalks and paths. I A further object of my invention is to provide a special form of lire box fitted with a heat generating device in which the snow which is not immediately melted by contact with the face of the plow head, is brought direct] into contact with the heat generator or wit highl heated air or gas from the generator, an the melted snow is then carried off in channels through one side of the fire box. Y

Still another object is to provide a self contained snow plow and melter in which the fuel for the burners is carried in a reservoir supported by the frame of the plow.

With these and other objects in view, my

invention consists in certam novel features I of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts as will be more fully hereinafter described and defined in the claims. a

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a; plan v1ew of my snow plow I and melter;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of same;

Fig. 3 is a section through the plow head taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; v

Figs. 4.- and 5 are partly diagrammatic views showing in lan view two modifications of my snow p ow and melter.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2, the numeral 10 is used to designate a pair of side frame members which may be attached at the rear end to any suitable propelling vehicle, a portion of which is indicated at 11.

- At their forward end the members 10 are the hot plate 20. Plate 20 secured tothe plow head 12. The latter, as best indicated 1n Fig. 1 is set up at such an angle with the axis of the vehicle, that when the plow is pushed forward against the snow, such of the snow as is not melted, will be forced to one side out of the path of the vehicle. In order to take the thrust of the snow against the plow,'braces 13 are rovided leading from the top of the low lied to the frame members 10. Depending from thelowcr edge of theframe members 10, are the bearing blocks 14, which support a shaft 15 on which are mounted the wheels 16. These wheels are-adapted to run on the road or street andsupport the plow head so that it just clears the road way. A pair of brackets 17 are carried by the frame members 10 and support a tank 18 inwhich is stored the fuel for the burners.

The plow head 12 is in the form of a shallow box 19 closed on the forward side by a perforated plate 20. This plate is hinged to the box by means of hinges 21 at the to ofthe box and is normally secured in closed position by means of hasps 22 near the lower end of the box. The inner face of the plate 20 is formed with flanges-23 which are inclined, as indicated by dotted lines in Fi 2, running downward from the leading side of the plow head toward the after side of the plow head. These flanges,.as shown in the sectional view of Fig. 3, are tilted upward rearwardl to form shallow channels. Any snow that 15 melted within the fire box flows down these channels to openings 24 in the after side of the box. The rear wall of the box 19 is formed with openin 5 through which are lprojeoted a series of burners 25 adapted to heat the plate 20. These are distributed throughout the rear face of the box and receives supply of fuel through pipes 26 connected to pipe 27 which leads to the bottom of the tank 18. A valve 28 controls the flow of fuel to the pipe 27. Each burner is also provided with a valve 29 to control the amount of fuel fed to it. The tank 18 is provided with a filling port in its upper face which is closed .by means of a cap 30.

In operation the plow is propelled b suitable vehicle, forcing the plow hea the snow so that the snow any into iles up against is heated by the burners 25 and most of the snow that contacts with the hot plate is melted. Some of the snow, however, will be forced through 9 the perforations of the plate 20 and will melted by contact with the hot gases from the burners 25. The perforations in the hot late 20 will prevent such a large accumuation of snow within the fire box as to block the burners and extinguish them. The snow passing through the perforated plate 20 must enter the re box in the form of filaments or shreds which expose a large surface to the heated gases and the filaments of snow are melted as fast as they enter. The resultant water then flows down the channels formed by the flanges 23 and pours out of the openings 24 at the after side of the plow head.

If snow is melted so ra idly as not to enter the perforations in soli form it will pass through them in liquid form and flow oflt through the channels formed by flanges 23; thus a means is provided for carrying off the water from melted snow through the hot plate preventing the accumulation of a thick film of water between the hot plate and the unmelted snow, which film would act as a heat insulator.

In order to provide for ventilation, ports 31 are provided in the top of the fire box. Air is supplied through the jackets 32 and the products of combustion ass out through the oplenings 31. When it is desired to adjust t e burners or clean them, theplate 20 may be swung upward on its hinges.

The pressure of the snow against the plate 20 may be considerable and hence the flanges 23 are employed to serve the double purpose of forming channels and stiffening the plate against buckling.

As explained above, such snow as is not melted by penetration into fire box or by contact with the heat plate 20 will be scraped to one side out of the way of the propelling vehicle. This result will occur only in case of a very heavy snow, as the snow melter is desi ed to melt all ordinar falls of snow.

' If t e depth of snow is slight, the upper burners 25 may be cut off by turning valves 29 so that only the lower portion of the fire box is heated.

While my snow plow and melter has been shown in Figs. 1 and 2'as attached to the frame of the vehicle, it will be readily apparent that the device may be made on a smaller scale for use on paths and sidewalks; the frame members 10 will then serve as handles by which the device can be propelled by hand.

I do not wish to limit myself to the precise details of construction shown in Figs. 1 to 3. It will be evident that material changes can be made from this construction without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention. For example I have shown two modifications of my invention in Figs. 4 and 5. In Fig. 4, a double low head is used, the two parts of the hea being inclined one to the other to form a V-shaped plow.

tempos forated plates 20 are used which are hinged 1 on vertical hinges at the point of the plow so that access to the fire box may be had by swingingthe plates to the positions shown by broken nes. In Fig. 5, a single arcuate plate 20 is used which is hinged to the fire box at one edge thereof on vertical hinges. The broken line shows the plate swung to an open position.

In some forms of plow heads, it may not be necessary to use the supportin wheels 16 and I do not wish to limit myself to the use of such wheels. The plow head could rest on the ground and be scraped along the road surface. The fuel tank could be supported on the propelling vehicle rather than on the frame of the plow, but there are distinct advantagesv in imposing the weight of the tank and fuel on the plow in order to keep the plow from riding upward on the snow instead of plowing into it. It will also be evident that the plow head, instead of standing vertically as shown in Fig. 2, could be inclined with its lower edge leading the upper edge so that snow would pile up on the plate 23 and expose a larger surface to the heat of the burners.

These and other slight modifications of construction are included within the scope of my invention and I do not wish to limit myself to the precise construction shown in the drawings.

I claim:

1. A machine for plowing and melting snow comprising a plow head adapted to be propelled into the snow, the plow head being formed with a fire box therein and being further formed with openings to permit a portion of the snow to enter the fire box, and means for discharging said portion after it has been melted.

2. In a machine of the character described, a plow head comprising a fire box having heat generating means therein, and a plate forming the front wall of the plow head, the plate being formed with ports for the admission of snow to the heat generating means.

3. In a machine of the character described, a plow head comprising a fire box and having a perforated plate forming the front wall of the fire box, heat generating means in the fire box, the fire box being formed with discharge openings, and flanges on the rear face of the perforated late forming channels leading to said openings.

4. In a machine of the character described, a plow head comprising a fire box, a perforated plate hin ed on the fire box and forming the front w.ll thereof, flanges carried by the perforated plate to reinforce the same against buckling, the flanges being inclined and formed to serve as channels, and

means for holding the plate in closed position.

s '5. In a machine of the character described, a plow head comprising a fire box having a perforated front wall, burners fitted into the fire box, the fire box bein formed with ventilation openings and wit dischar e o nin and a fuel reservoir adapte to feed fuel to the burners.

6. In a machine of the character described, a plow head comprising a fire box having a perforated front wall, burners fitted into the fire box, the fire box bein formed with ventilation openings and wit discharge openin a fuel reservoir adapted to feed fuel to t e burners, and means for cutting off the supply of fuel to the burners individually.

7. In a machine of the character described, a plow head comprising a fire box having a perforated front wall, burners fitted into the fire box, the fire box being formed with ventilation openings and with discharge openin s, a. fuel reservoir adapted to feed fuel to t e burners, and a valve on each burner adapted to cut off the supply of fuel thereto.

8. A method of melting snow which consists in shredding the snow and exposing the shreds to the hot ases of a burner.

9. A method of me ting snow which consists in shredding the snow, exposing the shreds to a burner, and conveying the melted product from the burner.

10. A method of melting snow by direct contact with the flame of a burner which consists in passing the snow through a perforated plate whereby the snow is formed into shreds, and exposing the shreds to the flame of the burner.

11. A'method of melting snow in which a fire box fitted with burners and having a perforated face plate is forced into the snow causing a part of the snow to enter the fire box in the form of shreds thereby exposing to the burners a large surface area relative to the mass of snow, and discharging the melted snow from the fire box.

FRANK A. CONNOLLY 

